The extremely anticipated felony trial for Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of bankrupt crypto alternate FTX, began Tuesday to find out whether or not he’s responsible of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. And as one former federal prosecutor put it: “The chances appear to be stacked in opposition to him at this level.”
The 31-year-old co-founded FTX in 2019; inside just a few years the as soon as third-largest crypto alternate’s valuation hit $32 billion at its peak. It’s now making an attempt to claw again any funds to distribute to collectors.
However how did the as soon as third-largest crypto alternate get right here?
Earlier than FTX, Bankman-Fried co-founded crypto-trading agency Alameda Analysis in 2017. He co-founded FTX in 2019 as a complement to Alameda, to assist herald income and liquidity for the buying and selling arm.
Inside two years, greater than 80 buyers supplied about $2 billion in capital to FTX, serving to Bankman-Fried propel his imaginative and prescient right into a actuality. In January 2022, the corporate raised $400 million in a Collection C spherical, boosting its valuation to $32 billion. That was its final spherical of public funding.
The corporate gained considerably mainstream recognition with branding offers and partnerships. For instance, in 2021 it purchased the naming rights for the Miami Warmth’s house area. FTX additionally bought its identify branded on Main League Baseball umpires’ polos, and it partnered with celebrities like Tom Brady and his ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, in addition to Steph Curry, Shaquille O’Neal and Naomi Osaka, amongst others. He additionally had shut ties to U.S. regulators and authorities officers, a lot of whom he donated to.
Bankman-Fried was even in comparison with Warren Buffet and lots of referred to as him the white horse of crypto (crypto-news by no means did, for what it’s value).
However in early November 2022, that every one modified.
FTX’s collapse
Considerations surrounding FTX’s liquidity grew after CoinDesk revealed a duplicate of Alameda’s stability sheet, displaying the agency held $14.6 billion in belongings and $8 billion in liabilities as of June 30, 2022.
However there was an issue: The report confirmed Alameda’s largest asset was $3.66 billion of “unlocked FTT” and $2.16 billion of “FTT collateral.” FTT was the token behind FTX.
The stability sheet confirmed that the $5.82 billion in FTT tokens that Alameda owned was 193% increased than the overall FTT market cap, which was about $3 billion on the time. Which means it presupposed to have extra FTT tokens on its stability sheet than what existed on the earth.
Across the identical time it was uncovered, the world’s largest crypto alternate, Binance, began pulling out its remaining $2.1 billion equal of money in BUSD and FTT. (It had an fairness place in FTX from 2019 to 2021.) This primarily triggered a financial institution run on FTX.
FTX and Alameda filed for Chapter 11 chapter within the U.S. mid-November 2022. Bankman-Fried resigned, and John J. Ray III, the Enron turnaround veteran, was appointed its new CEO.
Bankman-Fried, nevertheless, maintained his innocence. At The New York Occasions’ DealBook Summit, he appeared nearly from the Bahamas, saying “I didn’t ever attempt to commit fraud on anybody; I used to be shocked by what occurred this month.” In a printed DM alternate with a Vox reporter, he mentioned he regretted submitting for chapter and thought that “regulators make all the things worse.”
SBF arrested
Bankman-Fried was arrested in December 2022 within the Bahamas, the place FTX was based mostly. He was then extradited to the U.S. to face numerous felony fees. He was launched on a $250 million bail bond, and he remained underneath home arrest at his dad and mom’ house in Palo Alto. This was revoked in August after he was accused of intimidating Alameda’s former CEO, Caroline Ellison, by leaking her non-public diary.
Ray represented the corporate throughout a Home Monetary Providers Committee listening to relating to FTX. When requested whether or not the agency had important danger administration methods, Ray mentioned on the time that “there have been nearly no inside controls and no separateness in any way” and added that he didn’t “belief a single piece of paper” within the alternate’s group. U.S. Legal professional Damian Williams referred to as Bankman-Fried’s alleged crimes “one of many largest monetary frauds in American historical past,” in a press convention.
The aftermath
FTX co-founder and former CTO Gary Wang, and Alameda Analysis’s former CEO, Caroline Ellison, each pleaded responsible in December 2022 to federal felony fees in relation to the FTX collapse. They’re additionally going through civil penalties from the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) and Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) alongside the felony fees. Wang and Ellison plan to cooperate with prosecutors and might be main witnesses within the trial, given their shut ties to Bankman-Fried, FTX and Alameda.
In January, Bankman-Fried pleaded not responsible to all counts, which embrace wire fraud, conspiracy to commit cash laundering and conspiracy to misuse buyer funds. He may resist 115 years in jail if convicted on all fees.
The crypto trade as a complete suffered from FTX’s collapse, which was the primary of many. BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 in November 2022, as did Genesis World Buying and selling in January.
The place we’re immediately
Bankman-Fried might be represented by Cohen & Gresser, and Mark Cohen, a high-profile protection legal professional and former federal prosecutor, would be the lead legal professional. If that identify sounds acquainted, it is perhaps as a result of he additionally represented Ghislaine Maxwell in her intercourse trafficking trial associated to Jeffrey Epstein. He requested an early launch for Bankman-Fried however was denied.
With the trial starting, we’re witnessing how FTX’s story ends. However what’s on our thoughts is what occurs to the buyers and collectors affected by the collapse? And what occurs to the billions in crypto belongings tied up in authorized proceedings?
